Isha Foundation is regarded as an educational institute and therefore will not require prior environmental clearance.

Bench: Acting Chief Justice T Raja and Justice D Krishnakumar

Considering that Jaggi Vasudev's Isha foundation provides group development services and runs a Yoga Center, it will be regarded as an educational institute and as such will not require prior environmental clearance for construction activities as the Central government has granted it.

Accordingly, the bench quashed a show cause notice issued by the Tamil Nadu government on November 19, 2021, accusing the Isha Foundation of violating environmental norms during the construction of its campus in Coimbatore.

According to the show cause notice, Isha Foundation failed to obtain the environmental clearance required by the Union government's Environmental Impact Assessment Notification of 2006.

While quashing the notice, the Court said that since the Yoga Institute helps one's mental and physical well-being, it must be classified as an educational institution since it promotes physical and mental well-being.

In response to the TN government's show cause notice, the court argued that the 2014 Environmental Protection Amendment Rules were an extension of the 2006 Rules, clarifying that educational institutes, industrial sheds, hostels, hospitals, seminaries, etc., could receive exemptions. The state government issued notice and initiated charges against educational institutes in violation of the 2014 amendment, which granted retrospective exemptions to educational institutes. 

According to the State government, the 2014 Amendment would only be effective prospectively.

On behalf of the Foundation, Senior Advocate Satish Parasaran stated, however, that as per an office memo issued on May 19, 2022, to clarify the 2014 notification, educational institutes include schools, colleges, and any other institution that promotes one's "physical, mental, and moral development." 

Isha Foundation's position was also supported by the Central government, which said the Foundation could claim exemption based on its educational mission.

The bench accepted the foundation's argument and accordingly said that the one lakh twenty-five thousand square meters of construction in the group development are covered by the amended notification.